RUI: Coalition Dynamics and Strategic Innovation in the Organic Movement

布赖恩·奥巴奇有机运动：社会运动联盟和战略创新本研究的重点是有机农场运动，二十世纪后期最成功的社会运动之一。 1970年代初，它由相对较少的反文化农民组成。 2002年，联邦政府通过制定有机认证的国家标准，正式承认了这个已经成长为数十亿美元的产业。 通过对社会运动策略的考察，本研究将揭示这场运动是如何取得如此程度的成功的，同时分析当前的条件是如何辜负运动最初的理想的。 本研究将探讨两个对社会运动研究有重要意义的议题：联盟动态与策略创新。 首先，本研究的重点是有机农场运动和有机消费者运动之间的关系，以及联盟工作中最具挑战性的问题之一，联盟伙伴的目标位移。 虽然有证据表明，消费者组织的支持大大推进了有机农业的事业，这项研究将测试的假设，有机消费者和小规模有机生产者的不同利益最终产生的结果，破坏了有机农场运动的最初目标。 有机食品的供应显著增加，有机消费继续上升。 然而，这一增长主要是通过大型有机农业综合企业和大型零售商的进入，这一发展与有机农民运动的最初目标背道而驰：小规模，以社区为基础，可持续农业。 第二个中心研究问题考虑有机运动如何科普其“成功”，并开发创新的新方法来重新获得政治动力。 对有机农场和消费者运动的现任和前任领导人的采访将被用来重建这一政治努力的历史。 组织档案将被用来补充这些帐户沿着与公共记录的政治行动围绕有机标准和认证问题。 更广泛的影响除了促进对社会运动过程的理解，这项研究所产生的结果将用于运动行为者寻求提高他们的政治效率和政策制定者寻求更好地了解动员选民群体之间的关系。该研究将包括本科生作为全面的研究伙伴，特别是那些来自代表性不足的群体和学生在C-STEP（大学科学和技术入门）计划。 研究结果也将提供给参与有机农业运动的行为者和决策者。

Brian ObachThe Organic Movement: Social Movement Coalitions and Strategic Innovation This study focuses on the organic farm movement, one of the most successful social movements of the late twentieth century. It was composed of a relatively small number of counter culture farmers in the early 1970s. In 2002 the federal government offered formal recognition to what had grown into a multi-billion dollar industry by creating national standards for organic certification. Through an examination of social movement strategy, this study will reveal how this movement was able to achieve this level of success, while at the same time analyzing how current conditions fail to live up to the original ideals of the movement. Two issues of significance to social movement study will be examined: coalition dynamics and strategic innovation. First, this research focuses on the relationship between the organic farm movement and the organic consumers' movement and one of the most challenging problems of coalition work, goal displacement by coalition partners. While there is evidence that support from consumer organizations greatly advanced the cause of organic agriculture, this study will test the hypothesis that the divergent interests of organic consumers and small scale organic producers ultimately yielded an outcome that undermined the original goals of the organic farm movement. The availability of organic food has increased markedly and organic consumption continues to rise. However, this increase has come primarily through the entry of large scale organic agribusiness and big retailers, a development contrary to the original goals of the organic farmers movement: small scale, community based, sustainable agriculture. The second central research question considers how the organic movement can cope with its "success" and develop innovative new ways to reclaim political momentum. Interviews with current and past leaders of the organic farm and consumers' movements will be used to reconstruct the history of this political effort. Organizational archives will be used to supplement these accounts along with public records on political action around the issue of organic standards and certification. Broader ImpactsIn addition to advancing understanding of social movement processes, the findings generated by this research will be of use to movement actors seeking to improve their political effectiveness and policy makers who seek to better understand the relationships between groups of mobilized constituents. The research will include undergraduate students as full research partners, particularly those from under-represented groups and students in the C-STEP (Collegiate Science and Technology Entry) Program. Findings from the research will also be made available to the actors and policy makers involved with the organic farming movement.